Did you know you should give under-fives vitamin tablets?

Children between the age of six months and five years should take vitamin A, C and D supplements, government advice says - do you find this surprising?

If you do, it seems you are not alone.

Researchers in Wales found only 30% of parents and carers said they had ever been given advice by a health professional about giving young children vitamin supplements.

And nearly two-thirds (64%) of those asked said they did not give their children vitamin supplements.

The Department for Health (DoH) recommends all children aged six months to five years should be given supplements containing vitamins A, C and D every day.

This advice has been in existence since the early 1990s, when it was endorsed by the then committee on medical aspects of food policy.

The DoH also says breastfed babies should given a daily vitamin D supplement from birth.

'Thought healthy diet was enough'

The Welsh researchers wanted to find out how well known this advice was among parents and carers.

They surveyed adults accompanying children at paediatric out-patient clinics in two hospitals in Swansea.

A total of 101filled out questionnaires designed to test their knowledge of the guidelines.

The researchers said the most common reasons given by parents for not giving their children vitamin supplements were:

"We are concerned that the majority of carers participating in our survey do not follow guidance around vitamin supplementation for their young children," the report says.

"Many seem unaware of recommendations, suggesting that health professionals are not providing them with information.

"We feel that action needs to be taken to raise carers' awareness and encourage a much wider use of vitamin supplements in the under-fives, with health professionals adopting a more proactive approach."

Letizia Marsili, 52, first realised she was different when she was very young. She had a high threshold for pain, which meant she did not feel burns or notice broken bones. Five other family members are also affected by the condition which means they are insensitive to pain.
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